The Journal of Antique Archaeology & Mike Wolfe

Lincoln Highway: The Birth of American Adventure

By 1913, about 180,000 Americans were registered to drive automobiles, but had nowhere to drive them safely. Driving surfaces were mucky. Wooden boards were thrown across pot holes as a temporary fix and then forgotten. Roads would start out with great promise but often just dead-ended with no warning and without actually going anywhere. And don’t even ask about proper signs. It was like bumper cars out there.

Fisher, who had co-founded the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Prest-O-Lite headlamp company, sought assistance from industry professionals at the Packard Motor Car Company and Goodyear Tires. These automotive companies had what travelers needed to experience the soon-to-be highway improvements, so at the same time they were lending their expertise, they were able to advertise and sell their products to a public that now needed them. It was an early example of marketing brilliance – drivers got their roadway and became consumers of the road trip essentials sold by the companies who created the need by helping build the road.

Photo courtesy of the collection of Russell S. Rein

For the first time in history, Americans were encouraged to be adventurous, to step off their front porches, to dare to see what lay beyond the tree line. The country’s pioneer spirit kicked in and off they went, motoring along the Lincoln Highway that today stretches across 14 states – making its way through sweeping prairies, towering mountains and 700 cities.

Photo courtesy of the collection of Russell S. Rein

Fun Fact: The Lincoln Highway was named after Abraham Lincoln, making it the first national memorial monument ever made in his honor!

To experience the highway in its 3,000 mile entirety, you’d begin at Times Square in New York City and end at Lincoln Park in San Francisco, (or vice versa). Along the way, travelers follow the 2,000+ red, white and blue concrete markers put in place by the Boy Scouts of America in the 1920s. (Each marker weighs more than 200lbs!) After battling muddy axles in Iowa and sand drifts in Nevada, the original average travel time to complete the trip was about 34 days. Nowadays, you could easily make the journey in a week, but honestly, what’s the rush? Here are more than a few wacky photo opportunities and detours worthy of losing some daylight driving time:

H.I. Lincoln Store, Illinois – Established in the 1860s by cousins of Abe Lincoln, the space was first used utilized as a general store. It is the current national headquarters for the Lincoln Highway Association. Stop in for live music and a history lesson.

The Lincoln Motor Court, Pennsylvania – Need a place to rest in the Keystone State? Stay at the Lincoln Motor Court, the only operating overnight motor court on the Lincoln Highway.

The Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah – Get some perspective, float, and think about the bike made famous on American Pickers.

Seedling Miles, throughout the highway – These miles were the first paved sections of the highway demonstrating what driving the route would be like upon coast-to-coast completion. They included paved roads, green grass, and many trees. (Hence, seedlings!) Like a scene from a movie, they perfectly painted the American road trip fantasy.

What’s amazing for many of you is that the Lincoln Highway exists right in your backyard. Fill up your tank, grab a few essentials, and dare to explore the historic highway. No time was ever wasted on two lane travel!

Photo courtesy of the collection of Russell S. Rein

The road looks a little different today. To see a variety of current travel photos of the Lincoln Highway check out #lincolnhighway on Instagram!

27 thoughts on “Lincoln Highway: The Birth of American Adventure”

Living on the Lincoln Hwy here in Pa. I have seen folks fro ll over the world traveling down it’s many miles.
Folks from Brasil, Germany , Sweeden France, Australia, Canada, and many more.
I’m proud to be a step in it’s way

I watch your program all the time, right now in fact. History channel shows it almost every day. You were practically driving in my back yard a year or so ago. Auburn, California is in the gold country where I live. Take care, happy trails. Drive safe.

I was born and raised where the Lincoln Highway , or Highway 30 as we knew it, crosses the Mississippi River from Illinois to Iowa – Clinton, Iowa. Once a month, the highway was the path to the family farm some 100 miles west. I remember Burma Shave signs, farmers selling sweet corn and the trains that ran right along side the highway. It is all connected to the experience of that road.

We live next to an old roman road here in England
Which is a major maintained route into London
With some great landmarks on the way
We love it’s straight lines and history even though the ancient brits took a bashing!
Love the programme! Due on dave ja view in 10 mins
Love liz and dave stevenage herts
Still home of the Vincent motorcycle x

Glad to see this, as it did traverse east-to-west thru York County, PA, on part of it the original Monocacy Trail (an American Indian pathway which tailed off leading to the Great Wagon Road thru Virginia and southward thru Carolinas and Georgia, &c.). A “modern” bypass was built here in 1967 which removed the US30 to this new highway, and the old became Pennsylvania Route 462. York is going thru a metamorphosis, with Gettysburg at its west, and Lancaster (with its famed Dutch Country) at the east – and the scenic Susquehanna River. A hope is to revive the “Old US 30 Lincoln Highway” to the original road, which in 1777 led Continental Congress – fleeing Philadelphia from the British occupation and safely 95 miles west to York Town (PA), where the Articles of Confederation were scribed and drafted. 2027 marks milestone year and hoped the famed Lincoln Highway will be rebranded here for this major event. https://www.facebook.com/dutchiedowns

Hello Sarah,
Thanks for the nice article about the Lincoln Highway! Many times America’s first main street gets left out so I am so happy to see it right here on the Antique Archeology site. Cool! I the President of the Nevada Chapter of the LH and a board member of the national LH and live just a few miles from the historic LH 4th Street segment in Reno, NV. Stop on by Mike and Frank whenever you’re in this neck of the Northern Nevada woods!

love your show …. love this blurb on my favorite highway …. LH ….. i have the oldest building on Highway 6 Highway 30 and The LIncoln Highway …. all three ….. John Sutters Mill (1847) …. i’ve been hoarding altec electrovoice western electric and jbl for years …. come visit anytime …. only three miles from Iowa … so you won’t get tired of driving …. i have the jackson families first recording console …. lady gaga’s mermaid tank and the first Kustom amplifier ever made … you might have fun

I love your show I love to watch you all dig in those old buildings it is like I get junk drunk every time you do. Since I can’t do what you all do watching you is the next best thing. I ride with you in the van I laugh with you at your jokes thanks for giving us something worth watching in this day and time of television. I love meeting the people you all get to meet. Thank you for the breath of fresh air you all bring to all your followers and fans. Plus I get a free price guide to things I like to collect. You all bring real America back to us the way it use to be. Thanks again Deborah.

We love the show. We just spent 3 wks. On the road discovering the country, and had the best time. We came into LaClaire and stopped by to see the stores. Thanks for the drive to look beyond and go for the rusty gold.

Hi lads and lady’s love your show hear in oldham.england uk love all the people you meet some of them are lets just say out this world i can remember the man who walked around with no food were on what a laugh he keep up the good picking all the best.

My second X life (now on 3rd) of 15 years was spent with a nice lady from Iowa picking junk in Midwest and selling as antiques in Colorado.
Was a great experience as it lead me to see the American heartland.
Thanks for sharing that with more of our fellow country folks.
Spent last weekend on motorcycle, stopped by Hana and Medicine Bow on Lincoln Highway in Wyoming. The Virginia Hotel (and bar!) in Medicine Bow is a must particularly on Wyo football afternoon.
Keep trucking and thanks!

I grew up in the little town of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania which was directly on Route 30. Any time we wanted to shop, we’d have to take Route 30 over the mountain to Chambersburg where the stores were. My grandparents took Route 30 allllllllllllll the way across the United States to California back in the day. I was mesmerized by stories and photos of things they saw. In another 20 years, I was able to experience those sights with my family! Don’t we live in a wonderful country?

Actually, in 1968 my family made our first trip West to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Our sons were two and four. Somehow we were bitten by the bug to see this great country of ours as a family……..and Route 30 was part of that. It took twenty years for us to actually visit all fifty states. What an accomplishment and what a blessing!

Next Spring 2018 we will be driving from home in NE FL up to Kansas City Des Moines and over to LeClaire and will be driving part of the Lincoln Highway. Not sure if driving that is the natural route from Des Moines to LeClaire or not but it most assuradly is deliberate. I would love to drive it from start to finish sometime but not until we retire. Looking forward to my first venture on it. From LeClaire we are going to Galena and then over to the Chicago(born and raised in the northwest burbs of Chicago) area then driving back home. Cannot wait for this trip

Mary you are going to have an incredible road trip! Galena is amazing and of course, we are partial to LeClaire. After you visit the shop, go get a sauerkraut sausage pizza at Happy Joes. Just trust us on this one.

The Lincoln Motor Court is only a few miles from our house. We pass it frequently. And don’t miss The Coffee Pot, which is exactly what it sounds like, and Dunkle’s Gulf Station, a vintage gas station at the western end of Bedford, both sights to see along the Lincoln Highway.